The store was the site of the PlayStation Portable launch along with the worst 36 hours of my life — the PlayStation 3 launch. Yes, I was one of the first people in line. I was actually No. 5 and I will never forget the cold, the homeless people squatting in line and the two or three brawls I had to stop. You can check out my suffering here.

Yes, that’s me talking to Luke Smith. I was the keeper of the list.

Oh PlayStation store at the Metreon, how I’ll miss you when I’m wandering around the City with nothing to do.

And without further ado, here’s the best of the week.

1. The week started off with a big with the confirmation thatDead Rising 2 was in the works. Capcom was also nice enough to include screenshots with a guy who doesn’t look like Frank West, making a mess of things in Fortune City.

2. Finally, Gamester is hitting all cylinders with new posts from the folks over at the San Jose Mercury News. Journalists Chris Strach and Troy Wolverston have gotten on the posting train, and they’ve provided some excellent insight.

3. Meanwhile, Danny has been keeping folks up to date on the latest comings and goings with titles. He also posted the Game Developers Choice Award Nominations. LittleBigPlanet andBraid lead the pack. LittleBigPlanet has seven nominations while Braid has five.

I consider this the only legitimate game award. It’s at least the one that makes the most sense. I don’t care about which Web site awards what game GOTY. For my money, the GDC Awards are where it’s at. Well, that and I agree with the nominations.

4. I wrote a couple of previews this week. One was on Wanted: Weapons of Fate, which is looking A LOT better since the last time I saw it. In December, it was just another third-person shooter. But this week, the build I played gave me some hope.

I can’t say the same thing for The Watchmen: The End is Nigh. I didn’t know what to expect from this episodic downloadable title coming this March, but when I saw it, I was underwhelmed. It’s your standard beat-’em up starring Nite Owl and Rorschach. Hurm, I hope the next episode will be better.

Lastly, I wrote up a sort of analysis/preview on Flower. I had a chance to spend an hour with Jenova Chen and we talked about his game philosophy and the narrative in the game. (Yes, he says that there’s an emotional arc coursing through the game.) I finished it last night and I have to agree with him.

We’re gearing up by finding the cheapest place to buy Microsoft Points. (I’m checking out Circuit City if that’s still open. If not, I’m heading to Best Buy.) I also managed to snag one of those highly coveted Street Fighter IV Tournament Edition FightSticks. Verdict: It plays like a dream and I would take this joystick out to Valentine’s Day dinner if the Casual Games Maven wouldn’t kill me.

This came across my inbox a little late, but I’ll pass it along anyway if you’re looking for something to do on the eve of the election. Sony is holding a midnight launch party forResistance 2 at the Metreon in San Francisco tonight.

There’s going to be a sale on the Resistance 2 special edition along with Ted Price and team from Insomniac. If that hasn’t convinced you to go yet, try this: You get some swag. What swag? We’re not sure, but we think it’ll be good.

Do you want your copy of Metal Gear Solid 4 signed by Hideo Kojima, the game’s creator? Better yet, do you want to meet the man himself? Well, head over to the Metreon on June 14 for the Metal Gear Solid 4 launch party. You also get to meet Yumi Kikuchi and that ain’t so bad either.